1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a terminal and system for the automatic computerized transfer, e.g., loading and unloading, of containerized cargo between a container ship and trucks, railroad cars, other ships and/or storage.
2. Background Art
The related art of interest describes various means for unloading ship cargo on land or offshore using gantries for loading and removing cargo from ships.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a container ship terminal with storage, truck and rail facilities.
It is another object to provide such a container ship terminal having an overhead transverse beam and elevated ground rail system, with the overhead transverse beams being used for loading and unloading of container cargo from ships, and to and from storage, through the use of automated vehicles, preferably without changing the orientation of the containers.
It is a further object to provide such a container ship terminal with automated vehicles to transfer container cargo via the elevated ground rail system to and from trucks and railcars.
It is also an object of the invention to provide such a container ship terminal which is fully automated and controlled by a central computer system for the transfer of cargo to ships, storage, trucks or railcars.
It is another object to provide such a container ship terminal offering a graving dock and container ship support services while a ship is berthed in the terminal.
It is a further object to provide such a container ship terminal with facilities for rapidly refueling ships berthed in the terminal.
A still further object of the invention is to provide such a container ship terminal which is dependable, economic and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
The present invention relates to a terminal and system for the automatic computerized transfer, e.g., loading and unloading, of containerized cargo between container ships, trucks, railroad cars, and storage. The terminal and system of the present invention reduces the amount of time required for a container ship to berth, to bunker (take on fuel), load supplies and to discharge and/or take on cargo. The terminal and system of the present invention is equipped to store or transfer the unloaded cargo automatically by using independent container transfer vehicles. The cargo ships are moored in docks of a terminal building constructed in or adjacent to a waterway. Preferably, each of the docks in the terminal and system of the present invention has the capability of acting as a wet dock, a graving dock and a lock. The terminal may be constructed by utilizing encapsulated dredged material. An overhead transverse beam system permits an individual container transport vehicle to lift a piece of cargo up and away from the ship. The container transport vehicle then distributes the unloaded cargo to the pertinent transportation vehicle or to storage within the terminal.
Thus, as a first aspect of the present invention, a terminal system for unloading containers from and loading containers onto container ships is disclosed, comprising a terminal structure having an interconnected right side, left side and rear side, and a substantially open front side with at least one quay adapted to form at least one dock, the dock preferably having a wall on at least two facing sides thereof, a plurality of parallel elevated ground conveyance rails positioned, atop at least one of the walls, parallel longitudinal conveyance rails positioned above each of the walls, a plurality of parallel transverse overhead conveyance beams constructed and adapted to be positioned perpendicularly between the parallel longitudinal conveyance rails, and at least one container transport vehicle constructed and adapted to be capable of traveling along the elevated ground conveyance rails and the parallel transverse overhead conveyance beams and adapted to pick up, carry and deposit a container between a container ship berthed in one of the at least one docks and a location other than the container ship.
The terminal system may further comprise a computer control system for controlling the operations of each of the container transport vehicles. When more than one dock is included in the terminal system, interquay transfer beams may be included for conveying container transport vehicles from dock to dock.
In addition, the terminal structure may further comprise a storage and transfer area adjacent to the docks containing railroad tracks and/or a roadway, so that the terminal system can transfer containers between a first ship berthed in one of the docks, a second ship berthed in a second dock, a railroad car on the railroad tracks, a truck on the roadway, and/or a storage area within the storage and transfer area by utilizing the transverse overhead conveyance beams, the elevated ground conveyance rails, and the container transport vehicles under computerized control. Furthermore, the terminal system may comprise a railroad access and a truck access to the terminal structure for connection to the railroad tracks and roadway in the storage and transfer area.
In a second embodiment of the present invention, the railroad access and/or the truck access are connected by a tunnel under water to the terminal structure using container chutes located therein. In a third embodiment, the railroad access and the truck access are connected by a causeway on supports to the terminal structure.
Furthermore, the terminal system may include an enclosed terminal structure to accommodate all-weather, year-round operation, which terminal system further comprises a roof on the terminal structure, means for removing ship stack emissions from within the terminal structure, service portals separate from the cargo handling areas of the terminal which provide access to ships berthed in the docks, bow and side fender mooring devices adaptable to the form of a ship""s hull, service harnesses which provide fast shore service connections to ships berthed in the docks, caisson doors (which may be attached to at least one of the docks) which open and close, and when closed isolate the dock from the adjoining waterway to allow dewatering of the dock for drydocking a ship or to permit water to be pumped into the dock acting as a lock to raise the position of a ship within the dock, and a high flow rate fueling system for a ship berthed in one of the docks comprising storage tanks and means for high-speed pumping of fuel.
As another aspect of the present invention, remotely controlled docking modules are provided for moving ships in or out of the docks.
As an additional aspect of the present invention, a bow mooring assembly for mooring a ship by the bow in a dock of a terminal is disclosed, comprising a horizontal rail in a dock wall, mechanical stop elements mounted to the horizontal rail, an H-shaped frame having a front portion consisting of a pair of separated bumpers for accepting a bow of a ship and a rear portion, wider than the front portion, and a plurality of hydraulic damper devices interconnected between the horizontal rail and the rear portion of the H-shaped frame, and whereby the H-shaped frame is limited in movement by the mechanical stop elements and the front portion of the H-shaped frame can accommodate a plurality of bow shapes.
As a yet further aspect of the present invention, a locking side fender assembly for mooring a ship in a dock of a terminal is disclosed, comprising a slotted mooring fitting mounted to a hull of a ship, a key element adapted to fit into the slotted mooring fitting comprising an oblong element connected to a first end of a shaft and an electric rotary actuator attached to a second end of the shaft, a rectangular fender element having elastomeric pads on a front surface and an aperture for the shaft of the key element, the rectangular fender element further having a top surface connected to a first end of a rotatable extender arm and to a first end of an adjuster arm, a rectangular fender carriage mounted in a dock wall and being connected at a top surface thereof to both the rotatable extender arm at a second end thereof, and the adjuster arm at a second end thereof, an extender ram connected between the top surface of the rectangular fender carriage and the rotatable extender arm, a hydraulic power unit mounted to the rectangular fender carriage and to the extender ram to automatically adjust the fender element to an inclination of the hull surface of a ship with appropriate dampening by positioning the extender ram, and a pair of wheels mounted to the rectangular fender carriage for positioning the rectangular fender carriage within a horizontal groove in the dock wall, and whereby the fender carriage can be locked and unlocked to the slotted mooring fitting by the use of the key element.
As a final aspect of the present invention, a system for rapidly fueling a fuel storage tank of a docked ship in a terminal having quays is presented, comprising a quayside storage tank inside the transfer terminal for storing fuel, a fuel pumping unit connectable to the ship""s fuel storage tank, a fuel filtration unit located downstream from the quayside storage tank and connected to the pumping unit, a pumping control unit adapted to control the flow of fuel by the fuel pumping unit, and a vapor evacuation unit connected between the quayside storage tank and the ship""s fuel storage tank, whereby rapid and safe fueling of the ship""s fuel storage tank can be accomplished.